Remains Are Those of Missing Ohio Girl

WOOSTER, Ohio — A severed head and limbs found over the weekend in a swampy area are those of a 14-year-old girl who disappeared from a county fair, the Wayne County sheriff confirmed Monday.

Kristen Jackson had been at the county fairgrounds on Sept. 9 with her older sister and friends and was last seen walking toward the main gate to meet her mother.

The body parts were found Saturday, Sheriff Thomas Maurer said. He would not disclose the exact location or other details. Authorities continued to search for more remains Monday at an undisclosed area.

Mary Belanger of the county’s victim assistance program said the girl’s family was “devastated beyond words.”

A suspect, Joel Yockey, 46, of Wooster, was arrested Friday night on a parole violation, the sheriff said. He had not been charged in Kristen’s disappearance, and authorities didn’t say why he was a suspect.

Police said they found the remains while searching an area they believed Yockey would have visited.

Yockey was released from prison in March after serving 15 years of a 10-to 25-year sentence for the 1986 kidnapping and rape of a 17-year-old.

Since his release, he had lived with his parents, next to a house where Kristen occasionally visited a friend. His parents would not comment.

Prisons spokeswoman Andrea Dean said Yockey was suspected of violating a parole condition that barred him from associating with anyone younger than 18. She wouldn’t provide details.

Wooster is about 50 miles southwest of Cleveland.